Scenes From A New Life
by Vix of TARDIS
Summary: A series of vignettes about the new Doctor and Rose.
1. He Needs You That's Very Me

Rose quietly watched over the strange, yet far too familiar blue suited  
man as he sprawled bonelessly on the couch. Utterly, unexpectedly  
exhausted, a deep and very human slumber had overtaken him while he  
waited for Rose to emerge from her bedroom. She'd planned to show him  
the guest room, not ready to share this brand new life quite so soon or  
so completely. Although Rose was tempted to let her mother deal with  
the Doctor's not-quite clone, she decided she should, and she would --  
take responsibility for this...gift she'd been given.

Presently, her gift stirred, rearranging himself into what she hoped was  
a more comfortable position. Rose had to laugh when he began snoring a  
moment later. "I knew it!" She whispered, remembering a conversation  
they'd had -- well, she and the "real" Doctor -- when he'd woken her up  
one morning, and told her she'd been snoring. She'd told him he was  
daft, and that it must have been him waking himself up, though he'd  
insisted he hadn't even been sleeping. She supposed that he...the one  
on her couch...would remember that as well. He'd remember everything,  
in fact. Like a stranger who'd read her diary, and somehow fancied  
himself intimate. It was almost too hard to take in.

She considered waking him to show him his room, but when he didn't  
respond when she called his name, she decided just to cover him with a  
blanket instead. He hardly stirred, even when she whispered goodnight  
in his ear and kissed him lightly on his forehead.

Rose wondered why she wasn't dead to the world herself, then remembered  
she'd practically slept all the way home, leaving him to deal with her  
mother's nervous chatter. Although she'd needed it then, she regretted  
it a little, because now she was wide awake and alone with her thoughts,  
which were, at the moment, none too pleasant.

Still, nothing she could do about it now. A matter of time, as the  
Doctor might have said. She watched him sleep a while longer, till the  
tears she held back silently flowed down her cheeks. She missed him so  
much, even though he was sleeping right in front of her. She turned out  
the light and headed back to her room.


	2. Namely

He'd considered using John Smith -- after all, his other self had used  
the name many, many times. It was his fallback to humanity. Precisely  
why, he reasoned, he ought not to use it. When it came down to it, John  
Smith was _him_ -- so was he, but John Smith was too much a part of  
his other self. Too much of a reminder. Not as if his very being  
wasn't the biggest reminder in any universe. Still, John Smith had been  
_his_...and he wanted something of his own. He went over a few  
names in his head -- Jack, Jamie, Mickey...every name seemed to be  
connected with the life he'd left -- no, the life he hadn't really  
lived, but remembered as if he had. Not an easy separation, but  
necessary, if he was going to truly be able to give Rose everything she  
needed.

He went through the alphabet. "Adric? Ben? Umm...C? No, no  
C's...David?" He'd always rather liked that name. "Good, strong, manly  
name, is David!" Common enough, he thought, remembering Proper Dave and  
Other Dave he'd met at the Library, before the darkness... He tried it  
out. "David...David Smith? Nope, don't like how it feels rolling off  
the tongue like that. What about David Jones?!" Thoughts of dead  
pirates and bubblegum pop songs filled his head, leaving him vaguely  
nauseous, though thoughts of Martha made him smile, albeit a little  
sadly. No, Smith and Jones were out. Then it came to him. "Noble.  
As in Donna Noble -- for one brief, shining moment, the most important  
woman in the universe, and why not? She'll never know...but I will, and  
I want to always remember, as much as she can never... After all, she is  
a part of me. David Noble. _Doctor_ David Noble! Yes! That  
suits. To a "T". Well, a "D", anyway..." He went straight away to  
tell Rose, Pete and Jackie his decision.


End file.
